


Gansey Week 2020

by imacashew



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: F/M, Gansey Week 2020, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26078923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imacashew/pseuds/imacashew
Summary: Prompt week 2020 for Gansey.Day 1: Heartbeat of a SoulDay 2: HomeDay 3: EarthDay 4: All That Really MatteredDay 5: Without QuestionDay 6: ChangesDay 7: Quests
Relationships: Noah Czerny & Richard Gansey III & Ronan Lynch & Adam Parrish & Blue Sargent
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12
Collections: Gansey Week 2020





	1. Day 1: Heartbeat of a Soul

The Pig was never just a car, Gansey mused as he stared at the gleaming dream recreation of his Camaro in the low, orange light. 

He was sure that a little part of himself died when Ronan called and said he totaled The Pig (the original,  _ his car _ , his pride and joy) but would fix it. He remembered lamenting about the state it would be in when he returned. 

He remembered the joy he felt when he saw the car intact, exactly as he left it, when he returned from Washington DC. He remembered praising Ronan for “fixing” it, just as it was. 

When he really thought about it, the Dream Camaro was never his car.

It was never the original Pig.

It wasn’t the car he drove into Henrietta, searching for answers about ley lines and himself. It wasn’t the car that brought him to the small town that would lead him to his family that mattered. 

It wasn’t the car that he asked Adam about constantly, eventually learning how to fix things himself instead of taking it to a shop, every single time it broke down or stalled beyond recognition. 

This wasn’t the car that was originally banned from Ronan because he knew what his best friend was like, all for the fast cars and adrenaline rushes. 

It wasn’t the car that he sat in on a cold April night as the ley line buzzed beneath him. When he sat in the dark, alone with only a recorder for company. 

It wasn’t the car he had when he learned he was going to die, sending him on his way to his fate. 

As he placed the palm of his hand on the hood of the muscle car, he thought he could feel it hum under his fingertips. 

A heartbeat of a soul, something living. 

An extension of his best friend, his brother.

While it wasn’t the original Pig and all that it was, it still was a part of him.

Just like Ronan always was.


	2. Day 2: Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-series: “A feeling of home.”

He had gone near the building when he first drove into Henrietta, he felt a pull to the old factory. 

Gansey had come to a sudden stop with his overstuffed-with-his-life Pig, swerving into the overgrown parking lot. Granted, true to form, the Camaro managed to stall and grind its way into it. 

He got out of his faithful, old car and stood in front of the old building, arms crossed over his peacoat covered chest. 

He let his hazel eyes look over the greying bricks, broken shingles, and large cracked windows. 

Gansey could feel a comfortable rightness in his chest. A sense of belonging and a foreign feeling that he had never felt before in Washington DC, Britain, or any other place he had been before. 

A feeling of home. 

Tears prickled in his eyes, threatening to fall on cheeks. He wiped them with the heel of his palm and laughed at himself. 

Why was he crying? Why was he feeling this sense of home and longing for a building he had never even seen before?

Why was there a pull for this particular building and nothing else?

(Several years later, as he sat on an expensive leather couch watching a movie with Blue, Ronan, Adam, Henry, and the memory of Noah, he’d think of that question again. He’d answer it with a smile on his face and a warmth in his heart.)

He pulled himself together, willing the tears and awkward feelings away, and slid into the driver’s seat of his car. He turned the key to ignite the powerful engine, delighting as it roared to life. 

As he pulled out of the grassy parking lot, he let himself stare for an extra moment or two at the FOR SALE sign planted in front of it. 

Longing for  _ home _ . 


	3. Day 3: Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A rush of energy flowed into him, as if the earth had sensed Cabeswater and said, “Hello, there you are.”'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see your green witch Adam Parrish vibes and raise you reborn-of-Cabeswater-green-witch Gansey.

After the second death, he could always feel a rustle of trees in his heart and soul.

As he took hikes in forests around the country and the world, he could feel a closeness that logic could never explain. It almost felt like he was one with the planet and he was treated like family. 

He would feel a hum of companionship as he’d rest his palm on a tree trunk or dug his hands in the dirt. A rush of energy flowed into him, as if the earth had sensed Cabeswater and said, “Hello, there you are.”

Whenever he held Blue, his true love and soulmate, the massive forest in his heart seemed overjoyed with her and her connections to the trees. Artemus’ blood ran through her veins, leaves swirling in every single blood cell. 

As he spoke to his mint plant at home, he thought he could hear it whispering back, Cabeswater singing satisfaction in his soul at the little plant’s life. 

Little by little, he collected more little potted plants and succulents. As they appeared on his window sills and upon his desk at Monmouth, Cabeswater would welcome them into their little family. 

When his friends questioned him about it, concerned, he told them the truth. 

He told them about how the energy of the plants rejuvenated him. 

How connected he felt when he was near or in nature.

How the trees made him feel less alone when they were away. 

As he held a potted ficus close to his heart, his friends wrapped their arms around him. The warmth of their bodies warmed his very core, sliding a smile onto his face as he leaned into their embrace. 

Underneath his skin, Cabeswater basked in their presence. Their love glowed joyously in its boughs and roots, making him soar ever higher. 


	4. Day 4: All That Really Mattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What Gansey was terrible at, was pretending he had friends.“

The Ganseys were always fantastic at pretending. 

Pretending to be interested.

Pretending to be charismatic. 

Pretending to enjoy the company they were given. 

Gansey himself was a master at pretending to have the social skills to say what people wanted to hear. He used them impeccably with adults and people his own age, letting them think he was like them or perfect in every sense of the word. 

What Gansey was terrible at, was pretending he had friends. 

He had traveled the world before fate and the ley lines brought him to Henrietta and the only friend he had was Professor Roger Malory, and many had questioned that extensively. 

But before Malory. Before Henry, Blue, Adam, Ronan, and Noah. It was just Gansey. 

Just Gansey, alone, in the whole, wide world. 

With every Richard Campbell Gansey the Third smile and promises using his family’s name, anyone and everyone let him venture into the unknown alone. 

For a while, it didn’t bother him, he lied to himself. 

He was fine with being lonely, with no friends. He had his quest for Glendower. His quest for knowledge. 

That’s all that really mattered, didn’t it?

What he didn’t realize (or tried to ignore) was the emptiness and loneliness in his heart that grew nearly every year until he met Ronan and Noah. 

By the time Adam, Blue, and Henry entered the fold, he could feel his heart bursting with every moment shared.

He wasn’t so lonely anymore. Wasn’t lonely if he tried his best to keep them and take them anywhere with him. 

In his heart or otherwise.

His friends, his chosen family, mattered more than anything to him.

Even if there was the part of him who believed they didn’t feel the same way about him, he would do anything for them until his dying day. 


	5. Day 5: Without Question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This seemed foreign to him, missing somewhere he considered a home.”

“What’s on your mind?” Blue had asked one night as she lay next to him and Henry snored softly in the bed over. 

He rested his cheek on her dark hair, free from the clips she had on during the day. He closed his eyes, taking in her presence, and felt Cabeswater hum happily with every single beat of his heart. 

He tried to pick out the thoughts that had been running through his mind all day as they drove around, seeing the sights, and laughing.

Ronan. Adam. Monmouth. Fox Way. Henrietta.

While he had Blue and Henry, home was with all of them, the pieces of his heart together. 

After his second death, he had known it would come to this at some point: the separation after high school. He had spent so much time thinking about his death and preparing to die, spending time with the people he loved with the limited amount of time he had.

This seemed foreign to him, missing somewhere he considered a home. He realized after traveling the world that Washington DC had never felt like a home. Gansey could never be himself when he was in the presence of his parents or Helen, but he had found a place where he really could be himself without question. 

“Gansey?” 

He opened his eyes and gave the top of her head a gentle kiss. Gansey leaned back to look her into the endless abyss of her eyes, looking back at him, concern all over her face. 

“My apologies, Jane. I believe I’m just feeling a bit homesick.”

She responded with a smile on her lips and let out a gentle laugh, “I’m not surprised, you know. You do love Henrietta more than I do.”

He hummed in agreement, “Yes, I suppose I really do.”


	6. Day 6: Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Death had given him a new life of changes.“

When he died for the second time, sometimes it felt like nothing had even changed. 

He was still Gansey. Still anxious (maybe even more so). Still interested in history, magic, and infinite possibilities. (He was magic now, after all). Still himself. 

When he looked into the mirror, he saw the same old Gansey features. Same but a little different if you looked closely. 

Perfectly coiffed brown hair (a little wilder if you looked at it on an angle but it couldn’t be fixed).

Sleepless, tired hazel eyes (if you stared a bit too long, you could see trees in them. Just like Blue’s.)

Anglo-Saxon nose. (A king’s nose. The Raven King’s nose.)

Nothing had changed within him, but everything had changed when it came to his friends. Maybe it was something only he would notice, but the changes were welcoming and a little terrifying all at once. 

Ronan was still Ronan. Shit-eating grin, reckless adventures, and annoying him with sass and dumb comments. But, Ronan was willing to answer calls and texts for him now. There was always a tinge of _you’re still here_ in his voice whenever they spoke on the phone. 

Adam was still Adam. Full of stubborn pride, logical inputs and outputs, and worrying him at every single turn. Gansey had noticed their shared connection to Cabeswater almost right away. He could feel something _more_ between the two of them, which seemed like a good thing. 

He hoped it was a good thing. 

His relationship with Blue only got better, once the part-where-they-kissed-and-he-died-out-of-the-way. They could be open with their love together. They could be happy together. 

The biggest change of all, though, was being able to look towards the future. He could experience graduation, a gap year full of young adventures, and maybe even college, if he wanted to go. 

Death had given him a new life of changes. 

Changes for the better.


	7. Day 7: Quests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “On every single page, there was his history.”

As he ran his fingers over the crinkled pages, he could trace every letter of every note and line of every drawing. 

Everything that Gansey is, was or will be, this journal. He painstakingly copied his research from one book to another into this leather-bound marvel of his. 

He almost died for this journal, once. 

He died for his quest, once. 

At one point in his life, this is all that he had. No friends, no life, nothing to do but be a madman possessed and research everything related to Glendower. 

On every single page, there was his history. History of a scholar possessed with the quest of one thing. 

He closed the worn genuine leather cover and tied the straps tightly around the middle, enclosing everything that was Glendower. 

That quest was over. 

He picked up his journal, pressing it to his still-thumping heart, and then to his forehead. He closed his eyes, breathing in the scents of the crisp forests, musky leather, and fresh mint. 

He unlocked the bottommost drawer of his desk and placed the journal in the drawer. He closed it with a gentle push and got up from his chair to the bookshelf. 

After gliding his fingers along the aged spines, he pulled out another journal. 

This one looked like how the first one did, all those years ago: unbroken, unbent, unlived. It had none of the wear or fading that the other did. 

As he strode back to the desk, Gansey untied the straps, bent back the cover, and opened it to the first page. He pressed his palm along the spine to keep it from falling back. 

He stared at the blank page for a moment before letting a smile creep onto his lips. 

It was time for a new quest, he thought as he pressed his pen to the paper. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus wraps up another Gansey Week...thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> And we're back, TRC fam.
> 
> Come say hi at @cashewwritesstuff on tumblr!


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